Briefs for Nov. 19

A 37-year-old Georgia man accused of a stabbing a man with a pocketknife was sentenced to three years in prison during his appearance in Routt County District Court on Thursday.

Conny Gillis Mullis pleaded guilty to menacing, a Class 5 felony, after the District Attorney's Office made a plea offer dismissing the second-degree assault charge he originally was facing for the crime.

Mullis was arrested in September, after he stabbed a man in the abdomen while the two men were arguing.

Mullis' attorney, public defender Trevor McFee, called the case, "an imperfect self-defense" even though McFee said Mullis knew what he did was wrong.

"I know I got to go to prison," Mullis said. "I deserve it."

Assistant District Attorney Kerry St. James said Mullis admitted to police officers the night of the stabbing that he "liked to fight" and that Mullis "wanted to hurt that man by finishing the fight."

District Judge Michael O'Hara told Mullis that he should have made better decisions.

"While there are some things here that might have provoked you, you also were not the one to turn around and walk away. You should have known there would be a consequence to what you did," O'Hara said.

Mullis was given a 74-day credit toward his three-year prison sentence for time already served and a mandatory two-year parole. Mullis also was ordered to pay restitution to the victim and court costs.